This single mum returned to school at 40 – sharing polytechnic life with her teenage son

Women Sharifah Radhia returned to school at 40, spending a year studying at Temasek Polytechnic alongside her 18-year-old son Muhammad Abbas. Though in different courses, they supported each other through the shared challenges of assignments and exams. Sharifah Radhia and her son Muhammad Abbas spent a year studying on the same campus at Temasek Polytechnic, sharing the similar experience of navigating assignment deadlines and exam stress. (Photo: Eveline Gan) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. At a polytechnic graduation ceremony, most people are likely there to cheer on their children. For 18-year-old Muhammad Abbas, it was the other way around.In May, the teenager sat in the audience as his mother, 40-year-old Sharifah Radhia, walked across the stage to receive her specialist diploma.Watching the woman who already juggles multiple roles – as a single mother of three and a full-time operations manager – step onto the stage in her graduation gown filled Abbas with pride.“I always knew she could do it,” he told CNA Women. “But seeing my mum actually up there, in the gown and receiving her specialist diploma, it felt very different. I was there for a very important moment in her life.”The graduation ceremony had special meaning for the pair because the mother and son spent the past year studying on the same campus at Temasek Polytechnic (TP). Sharifah receiving her specialist diploma in business analytics from Temasek Polytechnic on May 11, 2026. (Photo: Sharifah Radhia) While Abbas was studying for his diploma in cybersecurity, Sharifah attended evening classes for her one-year specialist diploma in business analytics. Although they rarely met each other in school, they shared a similar experience of navigating assignment deadlines and exam stress.“Our study schedules are different but we definitely had our shared struggles of school assignments,” Abbas said with a laugh.RETURNING TO SCHOOL AT 40Sharifah, who holds a degree in business management, could have simply settled for the familiar routine of a stable job. However, she felt that she was “capable of more”.Seeing some peers struggle with new systems at work and hearing some older workers say that learning anything new after 40 was “too hard” strengthened her resolve to return to school.“I remember thinking: I don’t want to be so comfortable that I stop learning anything new,” she said.She believed the skills from her specialist diploma would remain relevant in most workplaces.The evening classes were held from 7pm to 10pm twice a week and allowed her to continue working. Abbas is studying for a diploma in cybersecurity while Sharifah studied for a specialist diploma in business analytics. (Photo: Eveline Gan) Another reason she chose the course was its focus on statistics, an important part of data analytics.Sharifah used to enjoy mathematics but struggled with statistics in her earlier studies. “I wanted to see how much further I could go in this area,” said the mother of three.“Pursuing a course in data analytics has given me a stronger understanding of statistics and has significantly improved my ability to interpret and apply statistical concepts in practical scenarios.”The timing, she added, also felt like a “sweet spot”. Her youngest child had just entered Primary 1 while her middle child was still one year away from taking the primary school leaving examination.At the same time, Abbas had just enrolled at TP through the polytechnic foundation programme, a one-year preparatory pathway that allows eligible Secondary 4 Normal (Academic) students to progress to their diploma studies upon passing certain core modules.“My mum inspired me a lot to continue my journey at TP,” Abbas said, adding that he sought her help in math-related topics for his course assignments.STEPPING UP TO HELP HIS MUMSharifah said her eldest child became one of her biggest supporters. Whenever she had assignment deadlines, he would find ways to lighten her load at home. Mother and son on graduation day – Abbas became his mother’s biggest supporter when she was studying, stepping up to help his siblings and in the household. (Photo: Sharifah Radhia) For instance, he would check his younger sister’s homework and occasionally step in to send her to and from tuition classes when their domestic helper was unavailable.“Even just washing the dishes and keeping my room clean helped my mum feel less stressed,” he said, to which Sharifah smiled.“I appreciate that Abbas was attentive and picked up some of the responsibilities that he mentioned without a lot of complaints, because I also understand that teenagers have their own lives and activities,” Sharifah said.There were also moments where Abbas saw his mother struggling with difficult assignments. “Sometimes, she would complain about how it was very difficult and questioned why she was doing the specialist diploma,” he said.Sharifah recalled those moments of doubt. “I would ask myself, why did I sign up for this? Was there really a need for me to study at my age?”Even so, she persevered, balancing a tight schedule of work, studies and parenting.“After work and night class, I was usually very tired. So I set aside time for assignments on weekends. I didn’t think I could do them properly in the evenings after work,” Sharifah said. Sharifah admitted that she had moments of doubt about studying again at 40 but persevered. (Photo Sharifah Radhia) On weekends, she deliberately chose the living room as her study space. “I didn’t hole myself up or make them feel I was shutting them out. In the living room, I was still accessible to my children,” she explained.Even with her packed schedule, Sharifah still made quality time for her children. Family activities included trips to the playground, a day out at the water park or a simple meal out on weekends. It was important to her that the children did not feel as though they were “abandoned” or left out.“I would tell the children, ‘Okay, let’s go out but when we come back, you have to give me time to do my work’,” she said. THE LESSONS SHE TAUGHT HER CHILDRENSharifah’s perseverance has left a lasting impression on Abbas.“One of the things I learned from my mum is the value of resilience. Regardless of her duties as a single mother and her full-time job, she still dedicates time to attend evening lessons, do the exams and spend time with us as a family,” he said. Sharifah hopes her three children will see that learning shouldn’t stop with age and that they should not be afraid of failure. (Photo: Eveline Gan) In recent years, Abbas had been struggling with his creative projects in digital art. Despite years of self-taught practice, he felt he was not making much progress. Watching how his mother pushed herself outside her comfort zone made him rethink how he could approach his own learning and growth, he said.By returning to school, Sharifah wanted to show her children that learning does not stop with age. She hopes that they will remember her willingness to embark on what she jokingly calls a “side quest” and not be afraid of failure.She also wants to tell other mothers that it is alright to consider their aspirations and dreams.“You may be a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, playing all these different roles. But you have to see yourself as an individual too. You don’t need to wait for everything to fall in line to prioritise yourself,” she said.“Ten, 20 years down the road, I don’t want to look back and say I regret not doing something. I would rather try and fail, than not try at all.” CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. 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